Archive for the 'Openness/Privacy' Category

from the do-you-love-me?-better-tell-the-truth dept.BBC reports that researchers at University College London have been able to detect the emotion of love using brain scans. Dr Andreas Bartels said: "I'm convinced that we can use it as a test for love — however, it's rather an expensive one!" Oh, well, that's all right then.

from the bits-from-the-underground dept."Fling is a new suite of internet protocols that perform the function of DNS, TCP, and UDP in a manner that's both untraceable and untappable. Fling protects clients from servers, servers from clients, and both from an eavesdropper in-between. The result is that anyone can serve or retrieve any data, without fear of censure." I haven't given the technical description of the protocols more than a once-over; does anybody see a fundamental problem with them?

from the technology-makes-strange-bedfellows dept.BryanBruns writes "Publius enables anonymous publishing over the internet, with strong protection built in for privacy. An article in the Washington Post describes the system, developed by AT&T researchers, which will have a public test from July 28-September 28.

It seems like a good example of pro-actively developing tools to protect key values, which will be important, for example, in trying to make nanotech accessible and safe.

Anonymity raises some of the usual censorship issues like dangerous information, defamation, etc., versus the benefits of enabling free speech, especially to those whose governments would stop them from speaking out. "